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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053774">lance's video diaries: DO NOT WATCH</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilliancares/pseuds/jilliancares'>jilliancares</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Video Cameras, diaries, video diaries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:29:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053774</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilliancares/pseuds/jilliancares</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance has run away from Voltron, but there might be something in his video diaries that alludes to where he's gone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>800</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>For all your Klance needs</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>lance's video diaries: DO NOT WATCH</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey guys !!! i hope you're all safe and healthy and not struggling too bad w/ school/work/other commitments. thought i'd post this, plus i'm planning to start posting my hunger games klance au this tuesday, so keep an eye out for that!!</p><p>p.s., in case any of y'all have a switch and need video game recs, i just beat fire emblem and it was GOOD AS FUCK. consider me obsessed 😌✨</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>10/09/2120</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“Is this thing on?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance’s eyes and nose are all that take up the screen, squinting into the camera even as he leans back. He looks younger. Less battle-weary and scarred. Less confident.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I see a light blinking,” he says. “That’s gotta mean it’s working, right?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He sits there, lips pursed, just staring at the screen.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s gonna suck if I talk to this camera for a while only to realize none of it was actually recording. Hold on, Imma check.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He leans forward, his hand covering the lens. There’s some commotion as he picks up the camera, muttering under his breath as he figures out how to turn it off, and then the recording ends.</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>“Listen up,” Shiro says, sounding tired. Usually, he never sounds this defeated. He’s supposed to be the one with the plan, the one who doesn’t let roadblocks get him down. These days, however, no one’s really been acting how they’re supposed to.</p><p>“The Olkari got back to us and they haven’t heard from Lance, either. We’re going to have to try something else.”</p><p>“Lance ran away,” Keith says, bitter and annoyed. He’s sitting in his chair, arms crossed over his chest and inexplicably angry. “He doesn’t want to be found.”</p><p>“So, what?” Pidge snaps. “You want to just stop looking for him?”</p><p>“I didn’t say that,” Keith says.</p><p>“Lance would be looking for you if it were the other way around,” she continues, growing heated.</p><p>“I didn’t say we should stop looking for him!” Keith says. “I’m just saying it’s going to be harder to find him than we think.”</p><p>“We have a new plan,” Shiro says, calm. “So just — listen, for a second.”</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>10/23/2120</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“Okay, I totally forgot about this thing,” Lance says. He’s still in his lion, sitting cross-legged in the pilot’s seat with his helmet resting on his lap. “Anyway, the recording worked.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He taps his fingers on the helmet, puffing his cheeks out awkwardly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“This is weird, right? I mean, no one’s ever going to watch this. But it’s kind of the same thing as a journal, except I hate writing in journals.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He sighs, leaning back against the chair and glaring at the camera.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“There aren’t any therapists in space,” he declares. “And there isn’t any medicine, either. There are healing pods, sure, but that’s for actual injuries. And there’s Altean medicine, but Coran says that they’d need to do tests to see if they work on humans.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance twists his fingers, cracking his knuckles one by one.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I might as well talk to a camera,” he decides.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just then, his head jerks to the side. He’s obviously listening to something, though the camera doesn’t pick up what it is.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Coming!” he yells, and then he rolls his eyes at the camera, throwing up a peace sign even as he reaches forward. His face is just a blur as the video cuts out.</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>“Pidge, you’ll check the castle’s security footage,” Shiro says. “Hunk, Lance’s room. Keith, you search the blue lion. Allura and Coran will keep looking for the pod’s signature in space and I’ll keep reaching out to the coalition, just in case.”</p><p>With that, they’re all sent on their way. Keith takes the zip-line down to Lance’s hangar rather than his own, feeling angry and bitter.</p><p>It’s just — fucking <em>Lance</em>.</p><p>Who the hell does he think he is, running away from Voltron?</p><p>They’ve been doing this for years. They’re a team, a family, in Lance’s words, and he just up and left?</p><p>Keith has no idea what’s gotten into him. No idea what could’ve possibly made him abandon them, but he’s pissed. It has to be the most selfish thing Lance has ever done, and when they actually find him, Keith’s gonna smack the shit out of him.</p><p>That’s a promise.</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>11/04/2120</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“Today was INSANE!” Lance says, still dropping into his seat as the video begins. His helmet’s off again, and his face is flushed and sweaty. His bayard’s still transformed, too, resting on his knee as he talks, though his finger is dutifully off the trigger.</em>
</p><p><em>“There was this planet that sent a distress signal and we went to help, obviously, but when we got there, the vibes were </em>bad<em>,” he says, leaning forward in his seat.</em></p><p>
  <em>“Like, they were all super creepy? It’s like their voices didn’t have any emotion or inflection at all. But it’s an alien species and you never know, right?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“WRONG. I was totally, like, ‘Guys, these weirdos are giving me the creeps.’ And everyone was like, ‘Don’t be an asshole, Lance, they’re just different!’ but the vibes were wack and I knew it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Anyway, like halfway through the meeting I saw this one guy’s eye just roll into the back of his head and it was super freaky. But I was trying not to be an asshole so I didn’t say anything — big mistake.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s talking fast, gesturing a lot in excitement.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“They were just about to send us into these caves to fight this monster that was apparently eating their children or whatever, when it hit me that like, something was off. I told everyone AGAIN that something wasn’t right here, which is when they started attacking us! Out of the blue!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Turns out, there really was a monster and it was totally controlling them all, but I was right! And we fought them off and killed the monster and it was epic!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He slouches back into his seat, still grinning, and shrugs.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Altean medicine works on humans, bee-tee-dubs,” he says. “It’s better and worse than Adderall in different ways, but I’m good now. I feel like I can concentrate again and like I’m not fucking up everything I do, so.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s silent for a moment, staring off into the distance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I like doing this, though, so I might keep it up. We’ll see.”</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>The blue lion sits there, still and unmoving, even as Keith paces in front of it.</p><p>“Blue, please,” he says, throwing his arms up in the air. “I just need to see if there’s anything inside you!”</p><p>Blue doesn’t move an inch, staring impassively over Keith’s head, and he growls. It takes an embarrassing amount of restraint to not rush forward and kick her in the paw, which would definitely hurt him more than it would hurt her.</p><p>“You’re just as stubborn as Red,” he mutters, sinking to the floor.</p><p>Maybe Pidge is watching him on the cameras right now, seeing him fail at his task. Or, more likely, maybe she’s going through old footage, seeing if Lance left any hints about where he was going as he packed up and sneaked off in the middle of the night, leaving them to be the defenders of the universe on their own.</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>12/16/2120</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>The video starts and Lance looks exhausted. He has bags under his eyes and he’s wearing his pajamas, his knees pulled up to his chest. He groans.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Being a paladin is, like, the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me,” he starts.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His hair is buzzed close to his head and he has stitches running through his eyebrow. This is from almost two years ago, back when they had a really horrific battle.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance sighs, tilting his head back against the chair behind him. He runs a hand over his scalp, seeming surprised for a moment by the texture of it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“On Earth, I was a nobody. I had a lot of friends, but no best friends. And now, I’m defending the universe. My friends are like a second family to me. We do insane things every single day, and it’s just normal now.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He looks back at the camera, blinking slowly with his exhaustion.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s also really scary,” he admits. “Keith’s been in a pod for, like, six hours. On the battlefield, he was so covered in blood that I thought he was dead. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That day, Lance had refused to stop fighting. He’d relented to being ushered off the field for a short time, resulting in a few of his injuries being fixed up the human way, but he’d gone right back out there and kept fighting.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know,” Lance says. “I think it’s just really hitting me. You feel invincible, sometimes. Not just in a lion, I don’t think, but all your life.</em>
</p><p><em>“Things happen to people but it’s always </em>other people<em>. And now I’m realizing that… I don’t know. Any of us could die, any day. And I don’t know how anyone survives that — having their friends die.”</em></p><p>
  <em>He rubs his eyes, flinching when his thumb pulls at the stitches.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It just sucks,” he decides. “It’s scary. And I hate being scared.”</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>“I don’t know what you want from me,” Keith says, exhausted. “I don’t know what I need to do to prove myself to you.”</p><p>Blue doesn’t respond.</p><p>“I’m not trying to replace your precious pilot,” Keith growls. “I’m trying to find him.”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>Keith jumps back to his feet, stomping toward the stupid lion. “Don’t you get how worried we all are?!” he shouts. “There could be an answer inside you, and you won't —” he slams a fist against her leg “— open —” <em>slam</em> “— UP!”</p><p>He feels a presence brush against his mind, curious and overwhelmed with worry, and Keith realizes that he feels the same way. That more than he is angry, he’s worried, scared, wondering just where the hell Lance is and what the hell happened to make him leave.</p><p>He gasps, and Blue finally, <em>finally</em> moves. She leans forward, her mouth falling open as she reaches the ground, and Keith stares into the passageway inside her, surprised that she finally answered him.</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>06/23/2121</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“Probably shouldn’t be making a video right now!” Lance gasps out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Around him, lights are flashing and alarms are blaring. It’s clear he’s in battle, and just then he leans forward and yanks on the controls, slapping his hand on the button to fire lasers.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I kinda forgot these things existed, but I remembered and thought — shit!” he curses. He flies Blue through a series of complicated maneuvers, gasping once as something rocks his lion, making him bang around in his seat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He growls as he continues to fight, then shakes his head as he speaks. “Thought I’d just say something real quick, just in case we die and someone happens to find this.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His eyes go wide and he smacks his hand on a button, unmuting himself. “Hunk, behind you!” he shouts.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“On it!” Hunk’s voice says in Blue’s interior, and then Lance mutes himself again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Anyway, real quick — Mama, Abuela — I love you. I miss you. I’ve been in space fighting aliens but it’s fine, I promise I haven’t done anything dangerous and I never stay up late.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Lance, six o’clock!” Keith’s voice cuts in.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance unmutes — “Thanks, buddy!” — and mutes again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Marco, Ronnie, Luis — I will haunt you for all eternity if you’ve been stealing my shit while I’m gone. I expect to find my room in pristine condition when I return.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The entirety of Blue lights up, the unfortunately tell-tale sign of a lion having just been hit with a laser, and Lance groans as the electricity no doubt runs through his body. “But even if you did steal my shit, I love you guys anyway,” he adds.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“And Luca, I know it’s been, like, probably a year since your spelling bee, but I promise it was nothing to be worried about. I’m sure you did great. And if you sucked, spelling bees are for nerds anyway.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance sucks in a breath, leaning forward on the controls and taking Blue into a dive. “Okay, that’s all I got. I gotta go, see ya!” </em>
</p><p>—</p><p>Keith walks up the ramp, realizing in a sort of out-of-body experience that he hasn’t been in Blue since the day they found her. Since the day she accepted Lance and then toted them off through space in search of the castle-ship.</p><p>She looks the same, though foreign to Keith’s eyes, used to the red glow of Red’s interior. Plus, there are little personalizations that Lance has added to Blue over the years.</p><p>Most noticeably, there’s an array of stickers over her dashboard. He always buys a pack whenever they visit a space-mall, and Keith had assumed that Lance was sticking them in a notebook or his room or something. Instead, they’re all over Blue’s controls, and it actually looks pretty sick.</p><p>There’s a pillow and a blanket tucked under the dash. A toothbrush and a bottle of medicine in the little compartment beside it.</p><p>Keith stands there for a second, not really sure where to look. Maybe in the storage compartment down below?</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>09/17/2121</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“So, I couldn’t remember the last time I filmed one of these things,” Lance says. “Decided to check it out, y’know, catch up on my past self’s thoughts.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s wearing regular clothes, his jeans and t-shirt and jacket. He shakes his head with a laugh.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I swear to God, if I ever die and someone comes across this, don’t show that shit to my family. They’d be scarred for life.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He clears his throat. Taps his fingers on the arms of his chair.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Anyway,” he says, and then bites his cheek. Whistles.</em>
</p><p><em>His breath escapes him in a rush right before he starts cracking his knuckles. “Actually, how likely is it that Pidge could hack into this?” he asks, looking at the camera as if Pidge’s voice will echo through his lion right at that moment, telling him, </em>Very likely, actually. I’ve been watching all along.</p><p>
  <em>Lance starts biting at his thumbnail, clearly anxious about something.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Shit,” he says quietly. “I don’t think I’ve ever said this out loud.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He shoves a hand through his hair, then shakes his head. “I need a haircut,” he realizes. “That’s not what I came here to say. Just noticed that it’s getting a little long.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finally, Lance groans, banging his fists on his knees. “Fuck it. Imma just say it. It needs to be said out loud and then maybe it can go away and I can be done with it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He looks at the camera, takes a deep breath, and says, “I have a fucking crush on Keith Kogane.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Despite not having an audience, his face flushes. He throws himself back in his chair, whining loudly and stomping his feet on the ground. “Why!” he shouts. “Why me?! Why, why, why, why, WHY!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He finally deflates, just sitting there for a moment and staring at the ceiling.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know where this came from. I mean, like — it’s been a while. I’ve been denying it to myself, I guess. I always knew he was attractive, sure, but at least he had a mullet and a bad personality.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I mean, he still has a mullet,” Lance adds. “Also, I don’t think he’s ever actually had a bad personality. Just… lack of people skills, maybe.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance huffs, sitting up and glaring at the camera. “I’m going to kill either myself or Keith. One of those two things.”</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>Lance is the most disorganized person Keith has ever met. Blue’s storage is a mess. Just — Keith doesn’t know how Lance manages to find anything in here.</p><p>He’s been in Lance’s room a few times, but it’s always been clean. Maybe a jacket on the floor or a few things cluttering his desk, but clean, nonetheless.</p><p>Blue’s storage space is a different story.</p><p>There’s just about everything Lance has ever bought from a space-mall in here. Several relics from different planets they’ve been too, including the glowing, floating rocks for Xergatan, meaning even the air is cluttered.</p><p>Worse, there’s no convenient note that Keith can find. Something like, <em>Off to buy some space-milk at the space-grocery-store, be back soon!</em></p><p>And if there is such a note, Lance didn’t leave it in a very convenient place. Keith isn’t even sure if it’s worth it to dig through this mess to see if there’s anything worth finding.</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>11/03/2121</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>The video starts with Lance sitting calmly in the pilot’s seat, a purple cat purring on his lap.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Welcome to my lair,” he says seriously. Then he grins.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Fucking look at this little guy! I’m naming him Sir Purrs-a-lot, because — well, listen!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He stops talking, smiling and pointing at the cat, his eyebrows raised. After a moment, the cat purrs, twisting its body to lay more comfortably in Lance’s lap.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Anyway, it’s been a good day. I adopted a cat, the Yuthlers are free from Galra-reign, and ohyeahI’minlovewithKeithbutit’sfine.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He scratches Sir Purrs-a-lot under his chin. “It’s fine,” he adds. “It’s totally cool, I’m not freaking out, and I can definitely live with this realization. It’s not like I’m going to do anything crazy about it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Lance?” Shiro’s voice suddenly says, booming through the intercom into Lance’s lion.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance unmutes his mic.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have to come out of your lion sooner or later. That cat is a wild animal and native to Yuthleria. You can’t keep it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I am NEVER COMING OUT OF MY LION!” Lance shouts, Sir Purrs-a-lot sleeping right through it. The video ends there, but Lance would remain in his lion for the next three hours, claiming that he couldn’t move while Sir Purrs-a-lot (“You named it?!”) slept peacefully on his lap.</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>It’s perhaps the thirtieth item Keith has picked up, but the first thing that appears to be actually useful.</p><p>A camera.</p><p>Keith’s not entirely sure where Lance got it, and it doesn’t seem like Earth tech, but he’s sure he can boot it up somehow from within Lance’s lion. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have kept it in here.</p><p>So he returns to the cockpit with a bundle of chords, figuring at least one of them must be something that can attach to both the camera and Blue’s controls, feeling newly determined.</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>01/21/2122</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“I have a plan,” Lance says.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Well, okay, I don’t really have a plan,” he admits. “But I have a vague idea, which I think is a good thing.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He pauses, frowning. “I’ve really only been talking about Keith these last few videos, huh? Maybe I should catch myself up.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance takes a deep breath, holding up his hands and putting up fingers with each event he relays. “Hunk figured out how to make genuine coffee that doesn’t taste like shit. Keith revealed that he used to breakdance back on Earth and showed us and he’s actually really good at it (that didn’t help with my feelings, as you can imagine). Shiro apparently didn’t realize you weren’t supposed to swallow mouthwash. Allura can’t whistle. Pidge discovered space weed and we smoked a lot of it, shit was lit until Shiro found out and yelled at us. Coran used to be in a band with a secret identity. That’s pretty much everything interesting that’s happened lately.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He sits back, steepling his hands under his chin. “Anyway: my plan. Idea. Whatever.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He looks at the camera. “I’m gonna tell Keith how I feel about him.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance grins, nodding, until the smile melts off his face. “No, I’m not. Yes, I am. I shouldn’t. I want to. I can’t. I WILL.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He groans, loud and long, slouching down further in his chair until he finally shuts up, the top of his head the only thing visible.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I hate emotions,” he concludes.</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>It takes forever to figure out the camera. Keith spends at least twenty minutes attaching it to different parts of Blue’s dashboard, Blue offering no help whatsoever.</p><p>Finally, Keith finds a spot for the cord underneath Blue’s control board, and when he plugs it in, a series of videos pop up on the screen. He clicks the very first one and sinks into the pilot’s seat, watching intently.</p><p>
  <em>“Is this thing on?”</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>03/01/2122</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“New plan,” Lance is saying. He’s not sitting in the chair, but a bag is. He’s shoving clothes and other materials into it, clearly planning on a trip. “I’m running away.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s silent for a few moments, and then he laughs. “Just kidding,” he says. “But I am escaping in the night in a highly suspicious manner. For, you know, reasons.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance looks around, his eyebrows furrowed, and then makes a noise of realization. He grabs a handful of snacks out of a compartment in Blue and shoves them into his bag.</em>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s gonna be a romantic gesture,” he explains. “I never did get around to telling Keith how I feel, but I think I can do it if I have the right incentive. I’m gonna go buy one of those gems from the Pur de Coeur people that, like, shows your true feelings.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He winces, scratching the back of his neck. “Haven’t yet decided if I’m gonna wear it and show Keith what I mean, or get Keith to wear it so I can see if it’s worth telling him how I feel. I think I’m gonna decide later.” He sucks in a breath. “I should probably go with the romantic gesture, though, right?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He zips his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. “Anyway, if all goes well, I’ll be back before they even notice I’m gone. Peace!”</em>
</p><p>—</p><p>Keith sits there, stock still and heart pounding.</p><p>Blue is eerily silent around him, which isn’t helpful. He could really use some input at this moment.</p><p>He has no idea how long it’s been since they all went their separate ways to do their tasks, but it must’ve been a few hours now, at least.</p><p>And Keith knows where Lance is.</p><p>More than that, he knows how Lance feels.</p><p>Automatically, Keith feels like this must be some sort of trick. Like he’s managed to be thoroughly punked, Lance moments away from bursting into the cockpit and yelling, “Gotcha!“</p><p>But some other part of Keith, maybe some more realistic part, realizes it’s true.</p><p>Realizes that he’s been sitting here, in love with Lance, and watching him say the same thing about Keith. That he’s spent the last several months pining after his teammate and berating himself for it when Lance had been doing the exact same thing.</p><p>He realizes that Lance said he should be back before any of them noticed, and he’s now been missing for three days.</p><p>Keith doesn’t have time to sit on his ass and gape over the fact that Lance, apparently, is in love with him.</p><p>So he stands up, takes one shaky step toward Blue’s exit, and then he’s running. He sprints out of the hangar, back to the bridge, and bursts in there panting. Allura, Coran, and Shiro are standing there, talking about possibilities of Lance’s whereabouts, when Keith gasps out the planet that Lance was headed toward.</p><p>“What?” Allura says. “How’d you find out?”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter!” Keith says. “Just — go! Wormhole!”</p><p>The next moment, Allura’s standing in the middle of the bridge. Coran’s making an announcement over the intercom, warning Hunk and Pidge about their impending space-jump, and Keith’s just standing there, still in a state of shock.</p><p>Moments later, he can see the planet in front of them. They were here months ago when they were recruiting them to the coalition, but Keith had forgotten all about it. He hadn’t even known about the gem Lance mentioned, the one that proves your true feelings, or whatever, but Lance is here. He’s here, trying to get some gem so he can tell Keith he loves him, when he could’ve just told him without all the fanfare.</p><p>Keith imagines it’s going to be some long and arduous process to find Lance. That they’re going to contact the planet’s officials and they’ll have no idea where Lance is, or that Lance never actually made it to the planet in the first place. He thinks that this is going to be the first step in their search for him, but all of those thoughts are eviscerated from his mind the second they start descending.</p><p>The kingdom’s in an uproar. There’s smoke and dust and laser-fire and it’s obvious some sort of battle is going on, likely has been going on this entire time. Allura tries to send a communication but nothing comes back, meaning the communication towers are likely down.</p><p>Meaning Lance probably got here, either before or after the battle started, and decided to join in despite knowing they wouldn’t be able to contact anyone else for backup.</p><p>The fucking hero.</p><p>“Suit up!” Shiro says, except they’re all already running for their armor. Their lions are left behind, the battle completely on the ground and too intermixed to safely use that kind of weaponry, and they join the fray.</p><p>Allura’s immediately off to find some sort of leader, someone who knows how the battle is going and where they need extra forces the most, and the rest of them disperse, helping out wherever they see fit.</p><p>Keith cuts down Galra droids and soldiers alike, dodging past the planet’s natives all while looking for Lance.</p><p>If Lance isn’t some kind of idiot, he’ll be wearing his armor and able to communicate through their comms right now.</p><p>“Lance?” Keith tries, switching his comms on. It takes a moment — a long enough moment that he starts to think that Lance up and left without even bringing his armor along — but then the comms crackle to life and Lance’s voice comes down the line.</p><p>“Keith?!” he says. “How’d you guys know to come here? All the communication towers—”</p><p>“We know,” Keith says. “But we found you. Thought you were ditching Voltron for a while there.”</p><p>“Shit, I wouldn’t do that,” Lance says quickly, panting. How long has he been fighting? “I just came here to — uhh, do a thing,” he says. “It was only supposed to take an hour or two.”</p><p>“Yeah, you can fill us in on that later,” Shiro growls, joining their line. “What’s the situation?”</p><p>“The Galra attacked out of nowhere, split up their forces,” Lance says. “They’re guarding this important crystal thing, but if we can get there and activate it, it’ll take out everyone with ill intent.”</p><p>“Let’s go activate it, then,” Keith says.</p><p>Lance laughs. “Exactly what I was thinking.”</p><p>They communicate through bursts, each fighting through different sections of the battlefield to find each other. It takes longer than they’d like, but Hunk and Pidge set off a commotion far enough away from them that it distracts a good chunk of the enemy and they’re finally able to find one another.</p><p>Lance crashes into Keith, giving him a sloppy hug and leaning on him for just a moment too long, belying his exhaustion.</p><p>“Are you going to be okay?” Keith asks.</p><p>“For sure,” Lance says. “The crystal is just up ahead. It’s pretty inconspicuous, the Galra don’t even realize they’re guarding it.”</p><p>“How do we activate it?”</p><p>“Just have to touch it,” Lance says, shrugging. “C’mon.”</p><p>Together, they fight better. They move quicker through the battlefield, falling into a rhythm so familiar to them that it feels like a dance. Lance shoots enemies sneaking up on Keith and Keith cuts down enemies getting too close to Lance.</p><p>They pull each other out of harm’s way and press through the battle with determination and ease, at least until a stray laser blasts Lance in the side, sending him careening into Keith.</p><p>“Shit!” Keith says. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Fine,” Lance grunts, straightening up with a hiss. “We’re almost there.”</p><p>Lance isn’t fine, because he’s exhausted and injured and not that good of a liar, but they press on anyway.</p><p>Plus, they really are almost there. Keith blocks a sword going for Lance’s head and skewers the enemy instead, meanwhile Lance pops three shots into three successive soldiers, sending them crashing to the ground.</p><p>And there, beneath their feet, is a tiny crystal.</p><p>“Bare skin,” Lance grunts. “Just touch it.”</p><p>Keith rips off his glove and crouches to the ground, leaving Lance to stand on his own for a moment. The crystal is warm to the touch, but the second it makes contact with Keith’s skin it lights up, and everything falls silent.</p><p>There are a few stray gunshots, but besides that, eerie silence.</p><p>The next moment, people are crashing to the ground all around them. Galra soldiers and droids incapacitated from the gem’s magic, and a cheer goes up on the battlefield, the natives rejoicing their victory.</p><p>Lance groans, sinking to the ground to lean against Keith, his hand bloody where it’s pressed against his side.</p><p>“You need a healing pod,” Keith says.</p><p>“You need to explain how you found out where I was,” Lance counters. If Keith’s not mistaken, he looks a little pale, and not just from the blood loss.</p><p>“Altean pods are trackable, with or without communication towers,” Keith says, deciding to take pity on him. Lance relaxes just a little bit more, leaning against Keith more heavily with a sigh.</p><p>“A healing pod would be nice,” he admits. “Also some water. I think I know what the Sahara Desert tastes like.”</p><p>Keith helps Lance to his feet, wrapping an arm around his waist, and leads him through the battlefield back to the castle. Their comms are on, but they’re muted, just listening to their friends rejoice and recount their own versions of the battle to each other.</p><p>Keith holds Lance just a little bit tighter than he normally would, knowing that he loves Keith, too.</p><p>—</p><p>Lance is already in the pod by the time Keith gets a chance to check on him. He had to hand him off to Hunk once they got back to the bridge, Allura demanding to know how Keith figured out where Lance was.</p><p>But his video diaries were personal, and God knows what Pidge would do if she knew those things existed, so Keith tells Allura that Lance left a note. That there was some sort of gem he wanted to get from there, apparently, but that he hadn’t specified what it was and it seemed pretty personal, hoping Allura wouldn’t berate him the minute he stepped out of the pod.</p><p>Coran is the only one in there when Keith arrives, checking the readings of the pod and adjusting the settings.</p><p>“Hey,” Keith says.</p><p>“Right on time!” Coran says happily. “Can you take Lance’s things back to his room?”</p><p>He dumps everything in Keith’s arms without giving Keith a chance to answer, so Keith resolves to come back later, currently bogged down with Lance’s paladin gear.</p><p>It isn’t until he reaches Lance’s room, dumping his gear on his bed, that he sees it.</p><p>The gem.</p><p>It’s different from the one that stopped the Galra, but that planet in particular must have some sort of affinity for gems. Keith doesn’t doubt that this is the thing Lance went for in the first place, and now it’s here, laying on his bed before Keith’s eyes.</p><p>Keith slips it into his pocket before he can dwell on it any further. He returns to the med-bay, now empty of any living soul other than Lance, and sits down to wait.</p><p>—</p><p>The pod opens with a hiss, revealing a sleepy-looking Lance who comes stumbling out of it.</p><p>He blinks in surprise, finding Keith waiting there, and manages a smile.</p><p>“Hey,” he says. “Worried about me?”</p><p>“Just a bit,” Keith says. “It’s not every day your teammate goes missing for three days and then gets shot in battle.”</p><p>“True,” Lance says. “You need at least four days for that situation to occur.” He cracks a grin, and it’s stupid enough that Keith laughs, rolling his eyes.</p><p>“Come on, let’s go to the kitchen,” Lance says. “I could eat a cow — not that I’d ever eat Kaltenecker.”</p><p>Lance takes the lead, bumping his shoulder into Keith’s as he walks past him. Keith pulls the gem out of his pocket, watching it as he falls into step behind Lance.</p><p>“Oh, and by the way,” Keith says, seeing the gem take interest. It starts to glow a pale pink and he closes his fist around it, embarrassed. “I love you.”</p><p>Lance halts, stopping so suddenly that Keith bumps into his back. Lance just stands there, completely still for a moment, and then he turns around. His eyebrows are furrowed, his gaze curious and disbelieving and suspicious.</p><p>Keith holds up his hand, finally opening it to reveal the gem, now bright pink and practically flooding the room with light.</p><p>Lance laughs. “You bastard,” he says. “You broke into my lion.”</p><p>“I would never do that.”</p><p>“You watched my videos!”</p><p>“What videos?” Keith says innocently.</p><p>Lance snorts, snatching the gem from Keith’s hand and holding it up mockingly as he says, “Ditto.”</p><p>It falls from his hand as he steps forward, cupping Keith’s face as he presses their lips together. Keith's arms end up wound around Lance’s waist, and he pulls Lance into him tighter, barely able to breathe around the heart in his throat.</p><p>—</p><p>
  <strong>04/03/2122</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“Everything I do is successful and I am a genius romancer,” Lance says. “I am the best boyfriend in the galaxy and Keith will attest to that.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s grinning, relaxing against the pilot’s seat with his ankle crossed over his knee.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Totally didn’t accidentally go missing for three days and freak everyone out. And I definitely was the first one to confess my feelings. No big deal.”</em>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Keith’s voice interrupts, echoing through the comms. “Let me into your lion, Lance!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance unmutes. “I’m not in my lion, babe,” he says.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, you are, asshole! Don’t you dare send that video to anyone!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What video?” Lance says innocently, grinning at the camera. “You mean, the one where I talk about how embarrassingly in love with me you are?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I will kill you,” Keith says. “I will kill you and everything you love.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance hisses through his teeth. “That includes you, babe. Sure you wanna go through with this?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m sorry that I called you a blanket hog. Even if it’s true,” Keith adds in a mutter. “Will you please come out, now?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Only if you admit how embarrassingly in love with me you are,” Lance decides.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Keith’s sigh is loud and long, even over the comms. “Lance,” he says.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m listening,” Lance sings.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You are very handsome and funny and charming.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’re a great pilot and sharpshooter and you’ve never hogged the blankets once in your life.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Sounds about right…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“And I love you. Asshole.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Good enough!” Lance decides, hitting a button. The lighting changes as Blue opens up. Moments later, Keith appears on the screen, looking at Lance instead of the camera.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You promised you’d make me dinner,” he says petulantly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Sure, but sit down for a second just in case we die tragically one day and this is all my family has to remember me by. I want them to know what my boyfriend looked like.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Keith groans, dropping onto the arm of the pilot’s seat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have kind of shitty coping mechanisms,” he says.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Moving swiftly along!” Lance says. “This is Keith. He’s grumpy and cute and in desperate need of someone to make him dinner, because he burns everything. Including eggs.”</em>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Space eggs are different!” Keith snaps, jumping into an argument that they’ve clearly had plenty of times before.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lance is already laughing, and his hand rests on Keith’s knee as he leans forward. He’s looking back at Keith, his smile overwhelming his face as his hand fumbles for the camera, stopping the video in the middle of his counterargument.</em>
</p>
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